Cell notification

ABSTRACT

A system and method for enabling an access point to determine that a mobile device has crossed a wireless coverage area boundary associated with the access point and select, for transmission to the mobile device, an audible notification indicating the mobile device has crossed the wireless coverage boundary associated with the access point, wherein the audible notification is stored at the access point in compressed form, prior to determining the mobile device has crossed the wireless coverage area boundary.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of wirelesstelecommunication networks, and more particularly, to a system andmethod for notifying a mobile device that it has crossed a wirelesssignal coverage boundary (e.g., entering or exiting a wireless signalcoverage area) associated with an access point.

BACKGROUND

Conventional wireless telecommunication networks, such as cellular anddigital wireless telephony networks, create a geographically largecoverage area through the use of base stations, antennas (e.g., Node-Band Base Transceiver Station cell towers), Mobile Switching Centers(MSCs), and other equipment common to wireless telecommunication networkinfrastructure deployments. Conventional network infrastructure providesgeographically large coverage areas capable of supporting large numbersof simultaneous communication sessions with mobile devices.

In some situations, it may be desirable for a telephony service provideroperating such a network to deploy wireless base stations that arecapable of establishing comparatively small network coverage areas. Thewireless base stations are less sophisticated and less costly devicesthat are typically designed to provide wireless telephone networkcoverage to a few mobile devices (e.g., 4 to 6 simultaneous mobiledevices) rather than the large numbers (e.g., 100+ simultaneous mobiledevices) provided by a conventional network telecommunications system.The coverage area of the wireless base stations is also designed to besmall compared with that of conventional network infrastructure, forexample, limited to the size of a home or an office versus a coveragearea of several densely populated city blocks, or rural coverageexpanding over potentially hundreds of acres. The small coverage areasestablished by such base stations may be referred to as “femto cells.”

Femto cells and their corresponding base stations (often referred to asFemto Cell Base Stations or Home Node-Bs (HNBs)) are commonly deployedby telephony network providers and are designed to operate with the samemobile devices that operate within a larger wireless telecommunicationsnetwork. For example, a telephony service provider operating a GSM(Global System for Mobile communications) network, will design the basestations to operate with GSM compatible mobile devices. Similar toconventional network base stations, femto cell base stations broadcast apilot signal that, when encountered by a compatible mobile device, cantrigger the mobile device to connect with the femto cell base station,and consequently, disconnect from a nearby base station, in what isreferred to as a “handoff.”

Handoffs between network base stations (conventional or otherwise) areintentionally designed to be imperceptible to the mobile device beinghanded off, or to end users of such devices. However, in some wirelesstelephony applications, it may be desirable for mobile devices to benotified of a successful handoff to another base station, such as ashort-range femto cell base station. Notification may be desirable for avariety of reasons, but generally speaking the use of a femto cellbenefits end users via improved signal quality, enhanced networkservices, and potentially reduced fees when operating within a femtocell. Telephony service providers also benefit from use of femto celltechnology by way of reduced network load on a correspondingconventional network. Accordingly, notifying end users of femto cell useis beneficial to telephony service providers and end-users alike.

Unfortunately, conventional mechanisms for notifying a mobile device ofits entry or exit from a femto cell coverage area are insufficient. Somebase stations hardware manufacturers transmit a tone or a beep to mobiledevices within the femto cell coverage area by decompressing the audiostream sent to the mobile device, inserting the tone or beep by eithermixing it with the audio stream to produce a combination of thenotification tone and the audio stream, or blocking out the audio streamand substituting the tone in place of the audio stream, andre-compressing the audio stream for transmission to the mobile deviceduring the time period of the notification tone playback. While such atechnique is feasible, it requires costly hardware and processingcapabilities to decompress and recompress the compressed audio streamquickly enough to avoid perceptible audio delays or content loss at themobile device. Sophisticated decompression and compression processingpower is a costly addition to an otherwise low-cost device, and whenmultiplied over thousands of units, the costs may become overlyburdensome to a service provider who otherwise desires to deploy femtocell technology. Adding near real time compression and decompressioncapabilities to a femto cell base station may become so cost prohibitiveto a service provider looking to scale-up a deployment program, that theentire technology becomes economically infeasible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, and can be more fully understood with reference to thefollowing detailed description when considered in connection with thefigures in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture in whichembodiments of the present invention may operate;

FIG. 2 is an alternative view of an exemplary network architecture inwhich embodiments of the present invention may operate;

FIG. 3A is an exemplary view of a decompressed audio waveform having aportion replaced with an audible notification, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is an exemplary view of a compressed audio stream having segmentboundaries blended, filtered, or matched, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3C is an exemplary view of a compressed audio stream having taperdata added to frame boundaries, in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4A is a diagrammatic representation of an access point for sendinga notification to a mobile device indicating the mobile device hascrossed a coverage area boundary associated with the access point, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a diagrammatic representation of a mobile device forreceiving a notification indicating the mobile device has crossed acoverage area boundary associated with an access point, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a flow diagram illustrating a method for sending anotification to a mobile device indicating the mobile device has crosseda coverage area boundary associated with an access point, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a continuation flow diagram illustrating the method from FIG.5A; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexemplary form of a computer system, in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forthsuch as examples of specific systems, languages, components, etc., inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Itwill be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that these specificdetails need not be employed to practice the present invention. In otherinstances, well known materials or methods have not been described indetail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.

Described herein are a system and method for enabling an access point todetermine that a mobile device has crossed a wireless coverage areaboundary associated with the access point and select, for transmissionto the mobile device, an audible notification indicating the mobiledevice has crossed the wireless coverage boundary associated with theaccess point, wherein the audible notification is stored at the accesspoint in compressed form, prior to determining the mobile device hascrossed the wireless coverage area boundary.

In one embodiment, compressed audible notifications, such aspre-recorded or synthesized voice messages, are stored at an accesspoint and encoded into a compressed audio stream destined for a mobiledevice. Compressed notification messages are introduced into thecompressed audio stream without requiring a decompression andre-compression cycle of the compressed audio stream as is required byconventional techniques. Because the notification messages are stored ina compressed format (e.g., “pre-compressed” prior to an event requiringtheir use), they may be encoded into to compressed audio stream byreplacing a segment of the compressed audio stream with a correspondingsegment containing the compressed notification message.

In some embodiments, amplitude discontinuity reduction is performed toreduce audibly perceptible “pops” that may be introduced when replacinga segment of the compressed audio stream with an audible notificationmessage in compressed form, rather than summing in the notificationmessage as an analog waveform into a decompressed portion of the audiostream. Amplitude discontinuity reduction may include, for example,adding taper data to frame boundaries adjacent to the compressed audiblenotification, as well as other methods described in more detail below.

Providing notification capabilities to mobile devices without requiringthat a base station support near real-time compression and decompressioncapabilities dramatically reduces the complexity and required computingcapabilities of the base station, and thus, reduces the overall cost todeploy such technology.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture 100 in whichembodiments of the present invention may operate. The networkarchitecture 100 may include Service Provider (SP) 110 which iscommunicably interfaced with Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 105 via SPbackhaul 160. MSC 105 is further connected with base station 145 via SPbackhaul 160.

SP 110 may be a telecommunications company that provides wireless voiceservices, wireless data services, or both. SP 110 may operate a wirelesscommunications network infrastructure that communicates over a licensedband of wireless spectrum and operates in accordance with well knownwireless communication protocols. Such protocols may include, forexample, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) compatibleprotocol, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) compatibleprotocol, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) compatible protocol, aWorldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) compatibleprotocol, and so forth.

SP 110 communicates with MSC 105 via SP backhaul 160, which is ahigh-speed data connection owned or leased by SP 110. For example, SPbackhaul 160 may be a digital signal 1 (DS1 or T1) communicationsinterface providing network connectivity between SP 110 and MSC 105.Importantly, SP backhaul 160 is financially supported by SP 110 as anoverhead component of operating network 100.

MSC 105 provides interoperability between an SP's 110 wireless telephonynetwork and traditional land-line networks, as well as other wirelesstelephony networks not operated by SP 110. MSC 105 further providesconnectivity between multiple mobile devices operating within SP's 110network. MSC 105 performs other conventional MSC responsibilitiesincluding setting up and releasing end-to-end connections betweentelephony devices, handling usage tracking for billing purposes, andcoordinating handoffs between network infrastructure cell towers.

Each MSC 105 typically manages multiple Radio Network Controllers (RNCs)or Base Station Controllers (BSCs) 165 depending on whether the networkinfrastructure corresponds with second generation (2G) or thirdgeneration (3G) mobile telecommunication standards. Each RNC/BSC 165 inturn manages multiple cellular towers, such as Base Transceiver Station(BTS) or “Node-B” cell tower 145A and 145B, again depending on whetherthe network infrastructure corresponds with 2G or 3G mobiletelecommunication standards. Each cell tower 145 is responsible forhandling the functions related to wireless radio communications withmobile devices operating within an infrastructure coverage area 115provided by the cell tower 145. Such functions include paging of mobiledevices, allocating radio channels, radio signal quality management, andcoordinating voice and data communications between mobile devices in thecell tower's 145 infrastructure coverage area 115. In sometelecommunication networks, functions of MSC 105, RNC/BSC 165, andBTS/Node-B cell towers 145 may be broken down into additional physicalor logical components, however, the basic overall wireless networkinfrastructure (e.g., 2G and 3G wireless communication standards whichcorrespond to, for example, Global System for Mobile communications(GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) respectively)is well known in the art.

Each cell tower 145 provides a corresponding infrastructure coveragearea 115. Telecommunication network operators (e.g., SP 110) carefullydeploy BTS/Node-B cell towers in a systematic manner to provide asgeographically large of a coverage area as possible, while minimizingoverlap, and minimizing the overall number of cell towers required.Another consideration is the amount of bandwidth required in aparticular area. For example, a densely populated city center willrequire more bandwidth for the same geographically sized area than asparsely populated rural area.

Infrastructure coverage area 115A is provided by BTS/Node-B cell tower145A and geographically encompasses buildings 120A, 120B, and 120C.Buildings 120 generally represent an end users' residence, office,shopping center, or other places and locations from which an end usermay access wireless telecommunication services. Obviously, a user neednot be inside a building to utilize a mobile device on SP's 110 network.Building 120E is shown only marginally within infrastructure coveragearea 115A, and thus, will suffer from very poor network connectivity, orhave no access to SP's 110 network as infrastructure coverage area 115is insufficient to communicate with mobile devices operating from thelocation of building 120E.

Building 120D is shown within infrastructure coverage area 115B providedby BTS/Node-B cell tower 145B, however, building 120D is encompassed byaccess point coverage area 130 provided by access point 135 (e.g.,within wireless coverage area boundary 130 associated with access point135). Access point coverage area 130 provides access to SP's 110 networkvia access point 135 rather than through conventional networkinfrastructure, such as BTS/Node-B cell tower 145B. Access pointcoverage area 130 is shown providing such access in a location that iswithin a coverage area (e.g., 115B) provided by conventional networkinfrastructure, however, access point 135 could similarly be deployed atbuilding 120E, thus providing access point coverage 130 for thebuilding's 120E location which lacks sufficient access to SP's 110network by conventional means.

Access point 135 is shown communicably interfaced with SP 110 viaprivate backhaul 125, through private internet carrier 155. Rather thanutilizing a data interface paid for and operated by SP 110, as is doneby conventional BTS/Node-B cell towers 145A and 145B, access point 135communicates with service provider 110 via a regular internet connection(e.g., private backhaul 125), such as a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL),Fiber Optic connection (e.g., such as those offered by Verizon FiOS™),or a cable internet connection (e.g., such as those offered by Comcast™)provided by a private internet carrier 155. Internet connections such asthese are commonplace in most residences, businesses, and commercialproperties, and are adequate for transmitting compressed audio streamsbetween access point 135 and service provider 110. In some embodiments,Quality of Service (QoS) parameters may be employed to guarantee aminimum acceptable level of performance on private backhaul 125 bymarking and giving priority to packets associated with access point 135.

An access point as referred to herein may be, for example, a “pico cell”base station or a “femto cell” base station. A pico cell base stationprovides a short-range wireless coverage area via an antenna operatingwith limited power and communicates with a remote Base StationController (BSC) typically connected via twisted pair ISDN connection orEthernet. Such a BSC typically manages multiple pico cells, and routeswireless communication traffic from the pico cell onto a backhaulinternet connection for transmission to a centralized service provider.A femto cell base station likewise provides a short-range wirelesscoverage area via an antenna operating under limited power, however, afemto cell may also contains basic BSC functionality to route wirelesscommunication traffic to a centralized service provider, and possiblybasic Mobile Switching Center (MSC) functionality enabling the femtocell base station to coordinate mobile telephony traffic, includingfunctionality to establish end to end connections, handle handoffsbetween network cell towers, and appropriately route telephony voicecommunications (e.g., transmit switched packets to a connected mobiledevice). Alternatively, an access point may be another type of basestation.

Mobile devices 150A and 150B communicate wirelessly with cell towers145A and 145B via air interface 140. Similarly, mobile device 150Bcommunicates with access point 135 via air interface 140. Air interface140 represents the wireless communication signals, protocols, andinterface between the cell tower 145 and mobile devices 150 and betweenaccess point 135 and mobile devices 150.

Mobile device 150A is shown near the outside perimeter of bothinfrastructure coverage area 115A and infrastructure coverage area 115B,and is depicted to be in communication with both BTS/Node-B cell towers145A and 145B. As mobile device 150A moves away from BTS/Node-B celltowers 145A and 145B, it eventually exceeds the optimal infrastructurecoverage area 115 of cell tower 145A and comes within range ofinfrastructure coverage area 115 associated with cell tower 145B. Whenthis occurs, the network 100 initiates a handoff of a wirelesscommunication session associated with mobile device 150A from cell tower145A to cell tower 145B. The handoff is seamless from the perspective ofmobile device 150A, however, once the handoff is complete, mobile device150A communicates with cell tower 145B to access network 100 servicesrather than cell tower 145A. Mobile device 150A could however, againrelocate into the infrastructure coverage area 115A associated with celltower 145A, and another handoff would occur, this time, back to celltower 145A.

Similarly, mobile device 150B is shown completely within theinfrastructure coverage area 115B of cell tower 145B, however, is nearthe wireless coverage area boundary 130 associated with access point135. As mobile device 150B nears wireless coverage area boundary 130associated with access point 135, the network 100 will coordinate ahandoff from cell tower 145B to access point 135. Similarly, as mobiledevice 150B moves away from access point 135 and away from the wirelesscoverage area boundary 130, the network will coordinate a handoff backto cell tower 145B.

Mobile device 150 may be a conventional cell phone compatible with oneor more wireless communication protocols (e.g., UMTS, GSM, CDMA, etc.),or may be a wireless handheld device, such as a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a smart phone, a laptop computer or PC enabled tocommunicate with wireless networks (e.g., through a wireless networkaccess card), or other electronic device capable of sending andreceiving data or voice information via wireless communication networks.

Access point coverage area 130 provided by access point 135 isgeographically small compared with that of infrastructure coverage areas115 associated with conventional cell towers (e.g., BTS/Node-B celltowers 145A and 145B). For example, access point coverage area may belimited to a house, office building, shopping mall, apartment buildingetc. Through the use of multiple access point antennas, access pointcoverage area 130 and its corresponding boundary may be expanded tolarger areas such as a university or corporate campus, however, suchimplementations are still geographically small in comparison to aconventional infrastructure coverage area 115 which may cover severalcity blocks or hundreds of acres in rural areas.

FIG. 2 is an alternative view of an exemplary network architecture 200in which embodiments of the present invention may operate. BTS/Node-Bcell tower 245 provides infrastructure coverage area 215 whichcompletely encompasses building 220 and access point coverage area 230surrounding building 220. Access point coverage area 230 and itscorresponding wireless coverage area boundary 230 is provided by accesspoint 235 located interior to building 220. Mobile devices 250A and 250Bcommunicate with cell tower 245 and access point 235 via air interface240. Mobile device 250A is depicted as exiting access point coveragearea 230 and crossing wireless coverage area boundary 230 intoinfrastructure coverage area 215, while mobile device 250B is depictedas crossing wireless coverage area boundary 230, and entering accesspoint coverage area 230 from infrastructure coverage area 215.

As mobile devices 250A and 250B enter and exit access point coveragearea 230 associated with access point 235 (e.g., cross wireless coveragearea boundary 230 in either direction), various notifications (255A,255B, and 255C) are transmitted to mobile devices 250A and 250B.

In one embodiment, mobile device 250B wirelessly communicates with celltower 245 via air interface 240. Mobile device 250B has an ongoingwireless communication session with cell tower 245, over which mobiledevice 250B can exchange wireless communication data 260, such as acompressed audio stream or digital information (e.g., application data,website data, application prompts, etc.) with cell tower 245. In oneembodiment, a compressed audio stream originates from a second telephonydevice, such as another mobile device or a landline telephone. In otherembodiments, wireless communication session may carry digitalinformation that originates from a website responsive to a request frommobile device 250B, or carry application data destined for a mobileapplication operating on the mobile device.

When mobile device 250B transitions into access point coverage area 230,wireless communication session 260 will be handed off to access point230, and access point 230 will then transmit wireless communication data260 (e.g., compressed audio streams or digital information) to mobiledevice 250B via a new wireless communication session between the mobiledevice and access point 235.

Access point 235 may encode a notification (255A, 255B, or 255C) intowireless communication data destined for mobile devices 250A or 250B.For example, FIG. 2 depicts access point 235 transmitting wirelesscommunication data to mobile devices 250A and 250B with notificationsencoded into the original compressed audio stream or digitalinformation.

In one embodiment, access point 235 encodes a notification (e.g., 255Aor 255B) into a compressed audio stream for transmission to a mobiledevice (e.g., 250A or 250B) upon determining that the mobile device(e.g., 250A or 250B) has crossed wireless coverage area boundary 230,entering or exiting the access point coverage area 230. For example,access point 235 may replace a segment or portion of the compressedaudio stream with a compressed audible notification stored at the accesspoint and transmit the notification (e.g., 255A or 255B) to the mobiledevice (e.g., 250A or 250B) within the compressed audio stream via thewireless communication session.

In one embodiment, access point 235 encodes notification 255B into acompressed audio stream for transmission to mobile device 250A upondetermining that mobile device 250A is exiting the access point coveragearea 230. In one embodiment, access point 235 encodes notification 255Ainto a compressed audio stream for transmission to mobile device 250Bupon determining that mobile device 250B is entering the access pointcoverage area 230.

In one embodiment, access point 235 encodes application interfacenotification 255C into a digital information destined for mobile device250A or 250B upon determining that mobile device 250A or 250B iscrossing wireless coverage area boundary 230, entering or exiting theaccess point coverage area, or upon some other event. For example,access point 235 may alter application data destined for an applicationexecuting at the mobile device, causing the application to display, forexample, an application prompt, a text message, or transmit an audibletone. Similarly, access point 235 may modify HyperText Markup Language(HTML) data destined for a web browser operating at mobile device 250causing the web browser to redirect to a webpage controlled by, orstored at the access point. Access point 235 may similarly send a JAVA™compatible application prompt directed at a JAVA™ virtual machinecompatible servlet application or a similar Object Oriented Programming(OOP) based servlet executing at the mobile device with instructions forthe servlet to display the prompt at the mobile device.

Audible notifications 255A and 255B may include tones or beepsindicating that mobile device 250 has entered or exited access pointcoverage area 230 or crossed its corresponding boundary. In someembodiments, audible notifications 255A and 255B may includepre-recorded or synthesized (e.g., computer generated) speech. Audiblenotifications 255A and 255B may further include arbitrary waveformsstored in either compressed or uncompressed format, where the waveformis a stored representation of recorded tones, music, speech, or othersounds captured by a suitable waveform capture or audio recordingdevice. For example, audible notification 255A may include apre-recorded voice message stating, “You have now entered a femto cell .. . additional services or features are available.” Similarly, audiblenotification 255B may include a pre-recorded or synthesized voicemessage stating, “You are now leaving the femto cell coverage area . . .femto cell coverage area rates and services are no longer available.”

Based on the notifications received, an end-user or a mobile device(e.g., 250) may be able to determine the geographic location of thewireless coverage area boundary 230. An end-user may desire to know thescope or extent of a coverage area associated with an access point tomake informed decisions regarding billing rates, service quality, and soforth.

In one embodiment, audible notification messages 255A and 255B arestored at the access point in already compressed form, and are encodedinto compressed audio streams without decompressing or recompressingeither the audible notification messages or any portion of thecompressed audio stream. For example, the compressed audiblenotifications are available (e.g., stored) at the access point 235 in apre-compressed form, prior to detecting an event requiring their use(e.g., determining that a mobile device has crossed a boundary 230associated with the access point 235), prior to establishing a wirelesscommunication session with a particular mobile device 250, and prior totransmitting a compressed audio stream from a service provider to such amobile device 250. The compressed audible notifications may be receivedfrom another source, such as a service provider in compressed form, orreceived in wave form, and compressed at the access point prior to theirrequired use (e.g., using low cost, but non-real-time compressioncapabilities, or more sophisticated real-time compression capabilitieswhen available).

In one embodiment, application interface notification 255C includes textcorresponding with an audible notification message, and is transmittedto mobile device 250 as a redundant message in alternate form (e.g., intextual form rather than audible form). In one embodiment, applicationinterface notification 255C provides supplemental information associatedwith an audible notification message (e.g., 255A and 255B), such astextual information indicating what additional services are availablewithin the access point coverage area 230.

Additional services available within the access point coverage area mayinclude, for example, alternate billing rates for voice telephonycommunications (e.g., lower per minute usage fees, or “free minutes”accrual rather than a reduction of “anytime” minutes), alternate billingrates for data communications (e.g., lower per megabyte usage fees, orno usage fee for data access within a femto cell or within a accesspoint coverage area), improved bit-rates for voice telephonycommunications (e.g., use of less aggressive compression and improvedsampling rates, or both, resulting in improved voice quality), andimproved transfer speeds for data communications (e.g., improved maximumdownload speeds compared to maximum allowable download speeds availablewhen operating within conventional infrastructure coverage area 215).

Additional services available within the access point coverage area mayfurther include local file sharing, location notification, e-commerce,and Private Branch eXchange (PBX) services. For example, local filesharing services include functionality to share media and otherelectronic data and files between the mobile device and other electronicdevices communicatively interfaced with the access point 135. Suchelectronic devices may include other mobile devices connected with theaccess point, personal computers operating within a home network andcommunicatively interfaced (e.g., networked over a Local Area Network),portable devices, video game systems, and so forth. Electronic data andfiles may include documents, music files, audio/visual files, executablebinary files, photos, and so forth, whether stored on PCs or othermobile devices associated with the access point.

Location notification services may be available to indicate whetherother mobile devices associated with the access point 135 arecommunicatively interfaced with the access point at a given time, orprovide an approximate location for such devices if not currentlyconnected with the access point. For example, upon connecting with theaccess point, a user may elect to have a mobile device be notified that,for example, a child's or spouse's mobile device is currently withinrange or out of range from the access point coverage area 230 (and byextension, whether or not the child or spouse is home). The access pointmay access additional location information, such as an approximategeographic location associated with a specified mobile phone through theservice provider 110 (e.g., a geographic location based on cell towerassociations or Global Positioning Information solicited from acompatible mobile device).

E-commerce services may be available which enable the mobile device toaccess media and services directly from the mobile device. For example,within the access point coverage area 230, the mobile device may beenabled to download ringtones, music files, audio/visual files, games,pictures, and so forth. Such content may not be available outside of theaccess point coverage area or require payment of a higher fee.

Local Private Branch eXchange (PBX) services between the mobile deviceand other telephony devices communicatively interfaced with the accesspoint may likewise be available. Such capabilities enable the mobiledevice to interface with other mobile devices within the access pointcoverage area 230, and further with land-line based telephones or othertelephony devices communicatively interfaced with the access point(e.g., through a home network router or LAN). PBX services are known inthe art and include functionality such as call transferring, conferencecalls, call forwarding, call waiting, voice mail, call hold, and soforth.

In one embodiment, audible notifications 255A and 255B describeadditional services and benefits available within access point coveragearea 230 when entering (e.g., “you will not be charged for minutes usedwhile operating within the access point coverage area”) or the loss ofsuch services and benefits when exiting (e.g., “you will now be chargedyour default billing rate for minutes used outside of the access pointcoverage area”). Audible notifications describing benefits and servicesmay be user configurable. For example, an end user may configure theaccess point to provide audible notifications detailing additionalservices by default, or configure the access point to announce theadditional services responsive to a number sequence pressed during aphone call (e.g., by pressing, for example, “# #” during a phone call)or responsive to, for example, a text message or a message from anapplication executing at the mobile device.

In one embodiment, audible notifications are transmitted back to aservice provider for transmission to a second telephony device connectedend-to-end with mobile device 250. For example, access point may replacea segment or portion of an outgoing compressed audio stream originatingat mobile device 250 and destined for a second connected mobile deviceor landline handset, with the same audible notification as istransmitted to mobile device 250. In this example, both mobile devicesconnected via an end-to-end telephony communication session (e.g., aphone call) would receive the same audible notification. In someembodiments, access point 235 may transmit a different audiblenotification (e.g., 255A) to a second telephony device than the audiblemessage transmitted to mobile device 250.

In one embodiment, access point 235 may select one or more audiblenotifications (e.g., 255A and 255B) to encode into the compressed audiostream for transmission to mobile device 250. The audible notificationsmay pre-loaded into access point 235, or may be managed remotely, forexample, by a remote service provider, such as SP 110 of FIG. 1 (e.g.,the service provider may cause the access point to automaticallydownload and store updated audible notifications in compressed form, anduse the updated audible notifications as directed by the serviceprovider).

The audible notifications stored at an access point may also includemultiple versions of the a message, for example, multiple versions toaccommodate different compression protocols required by different mobiledevices or wireless protocols, multiple versions of a similar message toaccommodate different spoken languages, and so forth. Likewise, multiplecompressed audible notifications may be used to indicate differentevents, services, and rates (e.g., different variations of beeps andtones, or different voice messages describing corresponding events,services, and rates).

In one embodiment, the remote service provider provides an event toaudible notification map that associates particular events determinableat access point 235 to particular audible notifications. For example,events may include, determining a mobile device has entered or exited acoverage area or crossed a boundary associated with access point 235,determining a visiting mobile device has entered or exited a coveragearea, determining a registered mobile device has entered or exited acoverage area, determining an unauthorized device has entered or exiteda coverage area, determining an unauthorized device has entered acoverage area and accessed an emergency services number (e.g., dialing“9-1-1”) via access point 235, determining a smart phone capable ofrunning OOP based applications has entered or exited a coverage area,determining a mobile device incapable of running OOP based programs hasentered a coverage area.

In one embodiment, selecting one or more audible notifications may bebased on other logical conditions in conjunction with the notificationmap. For example, the access point may utilize data, information, orconditions determinable at the access point. For example, the internaltime of the access point may compared against a time based schedule, theidentity of a mobile device may be compared against a member list withinthe access point to determine if the mobile device is a known “member”or an unknown “guest” in relation to the access point. The access pointmay choose different audible notifications based on the currentpopulation of other mobile devices associated with the access point, forexample, the access point may notify an incoming mobile device thatother family members are currently “home,” or that all the children arehome or not home, based on the population of mobile devices currentlyoperating within range of the access point. Other data points that maybe used include environmental attributes, such as internal temperature,external temperature, humidity, and local weather report data (e.g.,tides, moon, precipitation, cloud cover, wind speed/direction, and soforth). Network condition information may also be used in the selectionof audible notifications, including information regarding network linkfailures, low bandwidth status, network status report data, andexcessive link delay status. Such conditions may degrade telephonyservices, and thus, a corresponding audible notification may indicatethat voice quality will be poor, that connectivity outside of the accesspoint coverage area is unavailable, or that perceptible audible delaysmay be present.

In one embodiment, access point 235 selects an audible notification(e.g., 255A or 255B) based on a event to audible notification mapprovided by a service provider. In one embodiment, access point 235selects an audible notification based on an end user configurableparameter stored at the access point.

FIG. 3A is an exemplary view of a decompressed audio waveform 300 havinga portion replaced with an audible notification, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The decompressed audio waveformprovides an illustrative view of a compressed audio stream after havingbeen decompressed at a mobile device (element 305).

The decompressed audio wave has three segments. Leading portion 310 ofthe compressed audio stream is shown decompressed. This leading portionmay be a segment or portion of, for example, a voice telephone call thatprecedes a replaced portion of the compressed audio stream containingthe audible notification. Similarly, trailing portion 320 of thecompressed audio stream is shown decompressed. This trailing portion maybe a segment or portion of, for example, the same voice telephone callthat follows a replaced portion of the compressed audio streamcontaining the audible notification. Stated differently, leading portion310 and trailing portion 320 are original portions of the compressedaudio stream (shown in decompressed form) as received at an accesspoint, having originated at a second end point telephonically interfacedwith the mobile device end point.

However, middle portion 315 is not an original portion of the compressedaudio stream as received at the access point. Rather, middle portion 315illustrates the segment or portion of the compressed audio streamreplaced with a compressed audible notification at the access point(shown in decompressed form).

As discussed above, an access point may replace a segment or portion ofa compressed audio stream with a compressed audible notification. When amobile device receives the compressed audio stream, it will decompressand audibly transmit (e.g., “play” the audio via an integrated speaker)the compressed audio stream, including the segment replaced with thecompressed audible notification. However, replacing portions of acompressed audio stream in such a way may lead to amplitudediscontinuities 325 due to a waveform mismatch (e.g., a sharp or suddenincrease or decrease in amplitude) at a frame boundary between anoriginal segment of the compressed audio stream and a replaced segmentof the compressed audio stream.

For example, amplitude discontinuity 325 at the frame boundary betweensegment 310 and 315 depicts a sharp increase in amplitude rather than asmooth wave pattern increase. Such a amplitude discontinuity 325 whenaudibly transmitted through a speaker may cause a popping or clickingsound, depending on the severity of the amplitude discontinuity 325.Various methods for decreasing clicks and pops caused by amplitudediscontinuity 325 between original and replaced portions of adecompressed audio stream are discussed below.

FIG. 3B is an exemplary view of a compressed audio stream 301 havingsegment boundaries blended, filtered, or matched, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. Compressed audio stream 301includes a leading portion 330, a middle portion 335 which contains asegment of the compressed audio stream replaced with an audible messageat an access point, and a trailing portion 340 of the compressed audiostream. Compressed audio stream 301 further includes frame boundary 360at a trailing edge of leading portion 330, frame boundary 365 at aleading edge of middle portion 335, frame boundary 370 at a trailingedge of middle portion 335, and frame boundary 375 at a leading edge oftrailing portion 340.

Frame boundaries 360 and 365 are adjacent, and when decompressed, wouldpotentially contain an amplitude discontinuity (e.g., 325) as shownbetween portions 310 and 315 of FIG. 3A above. Similarly, frameboundaries 370 and 375 are adjacent, and when decompressed, wouldpotentially contain an amplitude discontinuity (e.g., 325) as shownbetween portions 315 and 320 of FIG. 3A above.

In some embodiments, compressed audio stream 301 contains a voice streamcompressed in accordance with Adaptive Multi-Rate compression (AMR) on aUniversal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) operated by a serviceprovider. In an alternative embodiment, compressed audio stream 301contains a voice stream compressed in accordance with Linear PredictiveCoding (LPC) on a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operatedby a service provider

The access point may perform amplitude discontinuity blending, matching,or band filtering on the portion of the compressed audio stream known topotentially contain amplitude discontinuities 325. For example, theaccess point may decompress (block 345) short targeted slices (e.g.,sub-portions) of a compressed audio stream, and match, blend, or bandfilter (block 350) the decompressed audio waveform (or perform somecombination), and re-compress (block 355) the decompressed shorttargeted slices.

Decompressing and recompressing very small portions, such as slices ofportions located at frame boundaries, consumes far less time andcomputing resources than decompressing and recompressing entire portionsof a compressed audio stream, and thus, allows an access point to bemanufactured for lower cost than a system having full near-real timecompression and decompression capabilities.

In one embodiment, the access point decompresses trailing frame boundary360 of leading portion 330 and leading frame boundary 365 of middleportion 335 containing the audible notification, performs amplitudematching, blending, and/or band limit filtering to reduce amplitudediscontinuity 325 between the decompressed frame boundaries 360 and 365,and recompresses the decompressed frame boundaries. The access point mayperform similar functions on adjacent frame boundaries 370 and 375 toreduce amplitude discontinuity 325 between the two frame boundaries whenin decompressed form.

As shown, compressed audio stream may contain multiple sequential dataframes, which may, in some embodiments, correspond with data packets ona switched packet network. In some embodiments, segment 335 replacedwith a compressed audible notification may be made up of one or moresequential data frames which constitute a subset of sequential dataframes making up the compressed audio stream.

FIG. 3C is an exemplary view of a compressed audio stream 302 havingtaper data added to frame boundaries, in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention. Compressed audio stream 302 is shown withleading portion 330 of the compressed audio stream preceding thecompressed audio stream segment replaced with a compressed audionotification (portion 335), which precedes trailing portion 340 of thecompressed audio stream. A first frame boundary 380 separates portions330 and 335 and a second frame boundary 380 separates portion 335 fromportion 340.

An alternative mechanism for reducing amplitude discontinuity 325between portions of a compressed audio stream adjacent to a segment ofthe compressed audio stream replaced with a compressed audiblenotification is to add taper data leading into and out of the segmentreplaced with the compressed audible notification (e.g., segment 335).Taper data may be added without decompressing or recompressing anyportion of the compressed audio stream, and thus, requires very littlecomputing resources compared to a system having compression anddecompression capabilities.

For example, in one embodiment, lead-in taper data 385 is added toeither the trailing edge of leading portion 330 preceding replacedportion 335, to the leading edge of replaced portion 335 followingleading portion 330, or both. Similarly, lead-out taper data 390 isadded to a trailing edge of replaced portion 335, to a leading edge oftrailing portion 340, or to both. In such an embodiment, lead-in andlead-out taper data (e.g., 385 and 390 respectively) reduce the overallamplitude discontinuity 325 and thus, reduce perceptible clicking andpopping, without requiring compression or decompression capabilities. Anaudio taper function implementing the injection of lead-in and lead-outtaper data (e.g., 385 and 390) within a pre-compressed audio waveform,such as the compressed audio stream, operates by scaling up or down, ona block by block basis, all frequency coefficients, or an equivalentrepresentation of the frequency coefficients within in a compressedaudio waveform segment or file, in equal proportions.

In some embodiments, lead-in taper data 385 and lead-out taper data 390is included as part of a compressed audible notification. For example,taper data (e.g., 385 and 390) may be added to a pre-recorded voicemessage in analog form, compressed in accordance with appropriatewireless protocols (e.g., AMR compression for UMTS systems), and thenthe compressed audible notification, including the incorporated taperdata, may be pre-loaded onto an access point or download to an accesspoint at a later time. Similarly, taper data (e.g., 385 and 390) may beadded to an already compressed audible notification, and stored forlater use, negating the need to apply taper data to the frame boundarieswhen the audible notification is embedded or encoded into the compressedaudio stream. A combination of the above techniques may also be used.

FIG. 4A is a diagrammatic representation 400 of an access point 498 forsending a notification to a mobile device indicating the mobile devicehas crossed a coverage area boundary associated with the access point,in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Access point498 is shown with many components, some of which are optional in someembodiments.

Memory 445 provides volatile and non-volatile storage capabilitieswithin access point 498. Memory may include Random Access Memory (RAM)or equivalent operational memory, and may further include permanentstorage, such as Read Only Memory (ROM), Non-Volatile Random AccessMemory (NVRAM), Hard Disk Drive (HDD) storage, optical storage, and soforth. Memory 445 contains application 450 and multiple pre-compressedaudible notifications 455. Application 450 may execute with the aid of aCentral Processing Unit (CPU) and reside in volatile memory, while thepre-compressed audible notifications 455 may reside in permanent storagewithin memory 445 without the need for execution.

Application 445 may provide an Application Programming Interface (API)or a message interface with which to send and receive applicationmessages and prompts to a corresponding application executing at amobile device. APIs and message interfaces may include Short MessageService (SMS) message capabilities, remote application prompts, HTMLbased web traffic, and so forth.

Backhaul interface 405 provides a communication interface to a privateinternet connection and thus, a communications interface back to aservice provider. Notification selector 425 may select one or more ofthe multiple pre-compressed audible notifications 455 based on eventsdetected at the access point, a mapping provided by a service providerand stored at the access point, or based on an end-user configurableparameter or parameter set stored at the access point.

Decompressor 410 and compressor 415 provide decompression of compressedaudio streams and compression of audio waveforms into compressed audiostreams respectively. Increased computing (e.g., CPU) capabilities arerequired to perform large amounts of compression and decompression,while relatively small amounts of computing capabilities are required toperform small compression and decompression tasks, such as decompressingand recompressing slices, frame boundaries, or sub-portions ofcompressed audio stream segments.

Matcher, blender, and band limit filter 430 performs amplitudediscontinuity reduction on decompressed waveforms, for example, byreducing the disparity in amplitude of a wave at two adjacent frameboundaries, by filtering out audible clicks and pops via screening forsharp drop offs or rises in amplitude, or by limiting a portion of adecompressed waveform (e.g., a portion corresponding to adjacent frameboundaries at a replaced segment of a compressed audio stream) to anarrow amplitude discontinuities within a frequency band or range.

Segment replacer 435 (e.g., a “segment replacing unit,” a “segmentsubstitution unit,” or a “notification encoder”) performs thereplacement of original segments of a compressed audio stream with oneor more replacement segments containing pre-compressed audiblenotifications 455 for transmission to a mobile device.

Radio subsystem 422 includes receiver 420 and transmitter 440. Radiosubsystem 422 enables access point 498 to communicate with a mobiledevice wirelessly, over an air interface. Receiver 420 enables thereception of wireless signals from a mobile device, and transmitter 440enables the transmission of wireless signals to a mobile device.

FIG. 4B is a diagrammatic representation 401 of a mobile device 499 forreceiving a notification indicating the mobile device has crossed acoverage area boundary associated with an access point, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. Mobile device 499 is shownwith many components, some of which are optional in some embodiments.

Memory 460 provides volatile and non-volatile storage capabilitieswithin mobile device 499. Memory may include RAM or equivalentoperational memory, and may further include permanent storage, such asROM, NVRAM, HDD storage, optical storage, and so forth. Memory 460contains application 465 which may provide an API and messaginginterface to remote applications, such as application 450 executing ataccess point 498.

Processor 470 provides execution capabilities and memory access servicesfor application 465. User interface 485 provides a graphical or textualbased interface with which an end user may interact with mobile device499 and application 465 executing thereon. User interface 485 mayfurther display application prompts and messages generated locally orreceived remotely (e.g., from access point 498).

Decompressor 480 decompresses the compressed audio stream received fromaccess points or from conventional cell towers, and sends thedecompressed audio waveform extracted from the compressed audio streamto audible transmitter 495. Audible transmitter 495 audibly transmitsthe decompressed audio waveform, for example, via an integrated speaker,making the decompressed audio waveform perceptible to an end user.

Radio subsystem 474 includes receiver 470 and transmitter 490. Radiosubsystem 474 enables mobile device 499 to communication with an accesspoint wirelessly, over an air interface. Receiver 470 enables thereception of wireless signals from an access point, and transmitter 490enables the transmission of wireless signals to an access point.

FIG. 5A is a flow diagram illustrating a method 500 for sending anotification to a mobile device indicating the mobile device has crosseda coverage area boundary associated with the access point, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention.

Method 500 may be performed by processing logic that may includehardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions run on a processingdevice to perform hardware simulation), or a combination thereof. In oneembodiment, method 500 is performed by a computing device, such asaccess point 135 of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 5A, method 500 begins with processing logic in anaccess point communicably interfaced with a wireless telecommunicationsnetwork, the access point receives a plurality of compressed audiblenotifications from a service provider and a notification mappingassociating the compressed audible notifications with events (block505).

At block 510, processing logic in the access point accepts a wirelesscommunication session handoff request for a handoff of the mobile devicebetween a network infrastructure cell tower and the access point.

At block 515, the access point determines that a mobile device hascrossed a wireless coverage area boundary associated with the accesspoint based on receiving the request for the wireless communicationsession handoff of the mobile device between the network infrastructurecell tower and the access point. For example, access point may determinethat a mobile device has crossed a wireless coverage area boundary,entering into a coverage area associated with the access point bydetermining that the handoff request is for an incoming handoff, from anexternal conventional network infrastructure cell tower, coming to theaccess point. Similarly, the access point may determine that the mobiledevice has crossed the wireless coverage area boundary, exiting out ofthe coverage area associated with the access point by determining thatthe handoff request is for an outbound or outgoing handoff, from theaccess point itself, to an external conventional network infrastructurecell tower.

At block 520, processing logic in the access point selects fortransmission to the mobile device, an audible notification from aplurality of audible notifications. Each audible notification is storedat the access point in compressed form prior to determining the mobiledevice has crossed the wireless coverage area boundary, and the audiblenotification is selected based on the notification mapping.

At block 525, the access point establishes a wireless communicationsession with the mobile device, and at block 530, receives a compressedaudio stream from a service provider for transmission to the mobiledevice via the wireless communication session. At block 535, the accesspoint encodes (e.g., embeds, injects, introduces) the compressed audiblenotification within the compressed audio stream for transmission to themobile device via the wireless communication session by replacing asegment of the compressed audio stream from the service provider withthe selected compressed audible notification.

At block 540, processing logic in the access point transmits thecompressed audible notification to the mobile device within thecompressed audio stream via the replaced segment of the compressed audiostream responsive to accepting the wireless communication sessionhandoff.

At block 545, the access point adds taper data at one or more frameboundaries of one or more sequential data frames of the compressed audiostream to reduce amplitude discontinuity between the compressed audiostream and the compressed audible notification.

FIG. 5B is a continuation flow diagram illustrating method 500 from FIG.5A, beginning with block 550. Referring now to FIG. 5B, at block 550,processing logic in the access point reduces amplitude discontinuitieswithin the compressed audio stream by decompressing portions of thecompressed audio stream leading and trailing the compressed audiblenotification, filtering, band-limiting, or blending the decompressedportions, and re-compressing the portions.

At block 555, processing logic in the access point sends a secondcompressed audible notification to the mobile device, wherein the secondcompressed audible notification is stored at the access point incompressed form prior to determining the mobile device has crossed thewireless coverage area boundary a second time.

At block 560, processing logic in the access point sends an applicationinterface notification to the mobile device, the application interfacenotification indicating the mobile device has crossed the wirelesscoverage boundary associated with the access point.

At block 565, processing logic in the access point sends the compressedaudible notification to a service provider communicatively interfacedwith the access point for transmission to a telephonic device attachedwith the mobile device via an end-to-end telephony interface (e.g., asecond mobile device or a land-line handset connected via a telephonecall).

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexemplary form of a computer system 600 within which a set ofinstructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternativeembodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines in a Local Area Network (LAN), an intranet, an extranet, or theInternet. The machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box(STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a webappliance, a server, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machinecapable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise)that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only asingle machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of machines (e.g., computers) that individuallyor jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to performany one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The exemplary computer system 600 includes a processor 602, a mainmemory 604 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), flash memory,static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a secondary memory 618(e.g., a data storage device), which communicate with each other via abus 630.

Processor 602 represents one or more general-purpose processing devicessuch as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. Moreparticularly, the processor 602 may be a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing(RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor,processor implementing other instruction sets, or processorsimplementing a combination of instruction sets. Processor 602 may alsobe one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array(FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or thelike. Processor 602 is configured to execute the processing logic 626for performing the operations and steps discussed herein.

The computer system 600 may further include a backhaul interface 608(e.g., a network interface device). The computer system 600 also mayinclude a user interface 610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or acathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device 612 (e.g., akeyboard), a cursor control device 614 (e.g., a mouse), and anintegrated speaker 616 for transmitting audio streams and audiblenotifications (e.g., a signal generation device).

Main memory 604 may include, for example, notification selector 624 forselecting which of multiple notifications to encode into a compressedaudio stream, and segment replacer 625 for encoding a selectednotification into a compressed audio stream. Main memory 604 may furtherinclude, for example, matcher, blender, and filter 623 for use inreducing amplitude discontinuities potentially introduced into acompressed audio stream having replacement segment with an audiblenotification. The secondary memory 618 may include a machine-readablestorage medium (or more specifically a computer-readable storage medium)631 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software622) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functionsdescribed herein, or notifications 621 (e.g., pre-compressed audiblenotifications, application interface notifications, etc.). The software622 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the mainmemory 604 and/or within the processing device 602 during executionthereof by the computer system 600, the main memory 604 and theprocessing device 602 also constituting machine-readable storage media.The software 622 may further be transmitted or received over a network620 via the backhaul interface 608.

While the machine-readable storage medium 631 is shown in an exemplaryembodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable storagemedium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media(e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated cachesand servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“machine-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include anymedium that is capable of storing or encoding a set of instructions forexecution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any oneor more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term“machine-readable storage medium” shall accordingly be taken to include,but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magneticmedia.

The present invention includes various steps, which will be describedbelow. The steps of the present invention may be performed by hardwarecomponents or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, whichmay be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processorprogrammed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively,the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware and software.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing theoperations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for therequired purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computerselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of diskincluding floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-opticaldisks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs,EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable forstoring electronic instructions, each coupled to a computer system bus.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purposesystems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specializedapparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structurefor a variety of these systems will appear as set forth in thedescription below. In addition, the present invention is not describedwith reference to any particular programming language. It will beappreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used toimplement the teachings of the invention as described herein.

The present invention may be provided as a computer program product, orsoftware, that may include a machine-readable medium having instructionsstored thereon, which may be used to program a computer system (or otherelectronic devices) to perform a process according to the presentinvention. A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storingor transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). For example, a machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable)medium includes a machine (e.g., a computer) readable storage medium(e.g., read only memory (“ROM”), random access memory (“RAM”),read/write capable flash memory, magnetic disk storage media, opticalstorage media, etc.), a machine (e.g., computer) readable transmissionmedium (electrical, optical, acoustical), etc.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to beillustrative, and not restrictive. Many other embodiments will beapparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding theabove description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method in an access point, comprising:determining that a mobile device has crossed a wireless coverage areaboundary associated with the access point; and selecting fortransmission to the mobile device, an audible notification indicatingthe mobile device has crossed the wireless coverage boundary associatedwith the access point, said audible notification is stored at the accesspoint in compressed form, prior to determining the mobile device hascrossed the wireless coverage area boundary, determining that the mobiledevice has crossed the wireless coverage area boundary associated withthe access point by receiving a request for a wireless communicationsession handoff for the mobile device between a network cell tower andthe access point; accepting the wireless communication session handoff;transmitting the compressed audible notification to the mobile deviceresponsive to accepting the wireless communication session handoff byestablishing a wireless communication session with the mobile device;receiving a compressed audio stream from a service provider fortransmission to the mobile device via the wireless communicationsession; and encoding the compressed audible notification within thecompressed audio stream for transmission to the mobile device via thewireless communication session wherein encoding the compressed audiblenotification comprises selecting the compressed audible notificationfrom the plurality of compressed audible notifications stored at theaccess point, replacing a segment of the compressed audio stream fromthe service provider with the selected compressed audible notificationand transmitting the selected compressed audible notification to thewireless device within the compressed audio stream via the replacedsegment of the compressed audio stream.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the replaced segment of the compressed audio stream comprisesone or more sequential data frames within a plurality of data frames ofthe compressed audio stream, the one or more sequential data framescomprising the compressed audible notification.
 3. The method of claim2, further comprising: adding taper data at one or more frame boundariesof the one or more sequential data frames to reduce amplitudediscontinuity between the compressed audio stream and the compressedaudible notification.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:adding lead-in taper data to a first frame boundary of the one or moresequential data frames of the compressed audio stream, the lead-in taperdata to reduce a first amplitude discontinuity between a trailingportion of the compressed audio stream preceding a leading portion ofthe compressed audible notification; and adding lead-out taper data to asecond frame boundary of the one or more sequential data frames of thecompressed audio stream, the lead-out taper data to reduce a secondamplitude discontinuity between a leading portion of the compressedaudio stream following a trailing portion of the compressed audiblenotification.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:decompressing a trailing portion of the compressed audio streampreceding the compressed audible notification, a leading portion of thecompressed audible notification, a trailing portion of the compressedaudible notification, and a leading portion of the compressed audiostream following the compressed audible notification; reducing amplitudediscontinuities within the trailing portion of the compressed audiostream, the leading portion of the compressed audible notification, thetrailing portion of the compressed audible notification, and the leadingportion of the compressed audio stream, wherein reducing amplitudediscontinuities comprises one or more of matching adjacent amplitudediscontinuities, blending the adjacent amplitude discontinuities, andband limit filtering the adjacent amplitude discontinuities; andre-compressing the decompressed portions of the compressed audio streamand the compressed audible notification after reducing the amplitudediscontinuities.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the compressed audiostream comprises a voice stream compressed in accordance with one of:Adaptive Multi-Rate compression (AMR) on a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) operated by the service provider; orLinear Predictive Coding (LPC) on a Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM) system operated by the service provider.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the compressed audible notification comprisesone or more of: an audible beep stored at the access point in compressedform; an audible tone stored at the access point in compressed form; anarbitrary waveform comprising recorded sound and stored in compressedform; a pre-recorded audible voice message stored at the access point incompressed form; and a synthesized audible voice message stored at theaccess point in compressed form.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theaccess point comprises a femto cell base station.
 9. The method of claim1, wherein the compressed audible notification to further indicate tothe mobile device, availability of one or more services within thecoverage area provided by the access point.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the one or more services comprise at least one of: alternatebilling rates for voice telephony communications; alternate billingrates for data communications; improved bit-rates for voice telephonycommunications; improved transfer speeds for data communications; localfile sharing capabilities between the mobile device and other electronicdevices communicatively interfaced with the access point; locationnotification services indicating whether other mobile devices associatedwith the access point are communicatively interfaced with the accesspoint; e-commerce services enabling the mobile device to access mediaand services from the mobile device; and local Private Branch eXchange(PBX) services between the mobile device and other telephony devicescommunicatively interfaced with the access point.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: sending a second compressed audiblenotification to the mobile device indicating the mobile device has againcrossed the wireless coverage area boundary associated with the accesspoint, wherein the second compressed audible notification is stored atthe access point in compressed form prior to determining the mobiledevice has crossed the wireless coverage area boundary a second time.12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending an applicationinterface notification to the mobile device, the application interfacenotification indicating the mobile device has crossed the wirelesscoverage boundary associated with the access point, wherein theapplication interface notification comprises one of: a Short MessageService (SMS) message originating at the access point; a JAVA compatibleapplication prompt directed at a JAVA virtual machine compatible servletapplication executing at the mobile device; and a HyperText TransferProtocol (HTTP) compatible data transfer instructing an Internet browseroperating at the mobile device to display a web page originating at theaccess point.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving aplurality of compressed audible notifications from a service providercommunicatively interfaced with the access point; receiving anotification map from the service provider, wherein the notificationmapping comprises a mapping of access point notification events to oneor more of the plurality of compressed audible notifications, the accesspoint notification events to trigger the access point to send one ormore of the plurality of compressed audible notifications to the mobiledevice; and wherein selecting for transmission to the mobile device, theaudible notification indicating the mobile device has crossed thewireless coverage boundary associated with the access point comprises,selecting the audible notification from the plurality of compressedaudible notifications received from the service provider based on thenotification map.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein selecting theaudible notification from the plurality of compressed audiblenotifications based on the notification map further comprises selectingthe audible notification based on one or more of the following: a timeof day in relation to a time based schedule; a guest or member status ofthe mobile device in relation to the access point; a current populationof other mobile devices associated with the access point; one or moreenvironmental attributes accessible to the access point, theenvironmental attributes comprising internal temperature, externaltemperature, humidity, and local weather report data; and networkcondition information in relation to the access point, wherein networkcondition information comprises network link failure, low bandwidthstatus, network status report data, and excessive link delay status. 15.The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending the compressedaudible notification to a service provider communicatively interfacedwith the access point for transmission to a telephonic device attachedwith the mobile device via an end-to-end telephony interface, thecompressed audible notification indicating to the telephonic device thatthe mobile device has crossed the wireless coverage area boundaryassociated with the access point.